Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Crossroads, New Mexico 88114
Saturday, December 20, 1986 23:31 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE STUDENT PLT WITH NO SIMULATED OR ACTUAL INSTRUMENT AND A TOTAL OF 9 HOURS NIGHT FLT TIME CALLED THE AMARILLO FAA FSS, WHO BRIEFED HIM ON WX FOR A FLT FROM BORGER, TEXAS, TO BIG SPRING, TEXAS, LOCATED 210 NM SOUTH. HE WAS BRIEFED ON MARGINAL VFR WX EN ROUTE AND IMC WX WITH CEILING OF 800 FEET AT DESTINATION. HE ALSO WAS ADVISED OF A WX FRONTAL SYSTEM EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT WITH WIDESPREAD IMC BY MORNING. HE DEPARTED ON THE NIGHT VFR CROSS COUNTRY FLT BUT FAILED TO ARRIVE AT THE DESTINATION. THE FLT WAS REPORTED MISSING 9 DAYS AFTER TAKEOFF. THE WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED 84 NM WEST OF COURSE IN FLAT, VERY REMOTE RANGE LAND. THE ACFT IMPACTED IN A LEFT WING LOW, 30 DEGREES NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/20/1986
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 2331
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City CROSSROADS
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 88114
Event Date Year 1986
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2148 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 175
Weather Observation Facility ID HOB
Elevation of weather observation facility 3659
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 43
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 1100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1100
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 3220
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2430
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 1 1987 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 33120
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 5:30PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7821U
NTSB Number DEN87FA039
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172E
Aircraft Series Identifier 172E
Aircraft Serial Number 17251821
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 15 1985 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 105
Airframe Hours 4419
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HOOVER F. HU
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1106 LAMAR
Aircraft Owner City BIG SPRING
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 79720
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code 06
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BCD
Departure City BORGER
Departure State TX
Departure Country
Departure Time 2145
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 21X5
Destination City BIG SPRING
Destination State TX
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:36AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --